Just a Shadow
by cyberchic12
Summary: When your best friend becomes your own shadow, you know there is something wrong. All your memories dissapear, and you truly become alone. She wants to know what she is, but first she has to find out who she is.
1. Just another day?

Nadia opened her eyes. She immediately shut them again when she was blinded by the bright light shining in through her window. It was a monday. She hated mondays. Groan. She knew it was late, she never got up on time, let alone early. It was only a matter of secounds before her mother would holler up from the bottom of the stairs for her to get up. Yep. In five, four, three, two, one...

"Nadia! Nadia, get up. School starts soon!"

"Dammit woman," Nadia muttered under her breath.

She slowly opened her eyes and turned to face her alarm clock. It was 6:52.

'Oh crap.'

The bus came at 7:10. Nadia bolt up in her bed and jumped off it. Grabbing a towel, she ran into her bathroom and quickly showered. She steppped out of the shower and pulled on a towel. After blow-drying her hair, it was time to brush it through. Nadia continued brushing until her hair until her perfect curls were formed. Nadia's hair was one of her best features, along with her large icy-blue eyes. She let her hair fall down her back in cascades of black curls and waves.  
After drying herself off, Nadia ran back into her room to pull on her uniform. St.Charles Jr.High was a strict christian school. It's attire consisted of an onix skirt that ended a few inches above the knees, a white polo that had the St.Charles emblem (a large S overlapping a large C) embroided into an area right above the heart, and brown mary-janes. Nadia, who for the life of her would not be caught dead in mary-janes had somehow managed to sweet talk the principal into letting her wear her adored black boots that came up to her knees. She couldn't really remember how she did it. Something about a large scar on her calf, and the emberassment she would half to take. Snort. Nadia's perfectly tanned skin was scar free, but she had always been a favorite of the staff at St.Charles. She did have the highest GPA in the school. She was probably the most clever thirteen-year old she knows about, not to sound concieted. Once again, she glanced at the clock. 7:04. She grabbed her black bag that strapped across her chest and ran down the stairs, grabbing her house keys as she went. She yelled that she was leaving to her parents and shot out the door shoving a piece of toast into her mouth as she went. Nadia's bus stop was at the end of her block, thank god. So she reached there no problem.

'And with time to spare.'

It was often lonely at her bus stop, she was the only one that was ever there. She sat down on the bench, alone. She pulled out her iPod, alone. She looked to the sky al-...

Nadia did a double-take from her iPod to the sky. There was something that looked like a siamese bird headed strait toward her.

She furrowed her eyebrow."The hell!"

All she could do was watch as the creature drew nearer. As soon as it was clear enough to see what the creature was, Nadia's eyes widened.

'That's no siamese bird.'

It was, actually, three men. One, it seemed, was out-cold. The other two looked beat up. By this time things were strange. But it gets stranger. Not only was the weird credature three humans, well two humans and one kryptonite, but they were all familiar to Nadia. The one she noticed was passed out was the infamous superman, the others were Batman, the Dark Knight, and Flash, the fastest man alive. As they got closer, Nadia braced herself for a crash. She thought about running, but she wanted to make sure they were alright. They got closer, and closer. Nadia could see that Flash was spinning his arms, so they could have an easier fall. Right when it looked like they were headed straight for Nadia, they made a swift turn and tumbbled on the deserted road directly in front of her. They were on the floor now, moaning in pain. Nadia slowly got up and walked towards them. She kneeled in front of Batman and tried to help him up.

"Are you alrig-AH!"

Nadia, had turned her head only slightly to the left, and to her horror, saw that only feet away from them was her big yellow school bus. It looked like they were about to be squashed, but the four were engulfed in a black shadow that rose from the ground. Nadia didn't know where she could take them, and only one thing popped in her head. She had seen pictures of this place called the Lighthouse...no, the Watchroom...no...whatever it was, it was the justice league's base, so she figured they should go there. She had never been inside, so it was ridiculously difficult to transport four people there, especially since Nadia had never taken more than one passenger. She focused her thoughts deeply on the League headquarters and in the blink of an eye, they had dissapeared from the street to what must have been the league's cafeteria.

There were two people in the cafeteria. A man and a woman. The man looked like something straight out of Robin Hood, and the woman looked like a jazz dancer, with blonde hair. Since it was a difficult process for Nadia, she unfortunately missed the ground, and the four were transported about four feet in the air, and falling four feet hurt more than it sounded.

Nadia landed on her butt. Oddly, it reminded her of the time she was swinging from the swings in her backyard when...

Nadia shook her head. The man and the woman were approaching her. The man looked from Nadia to the three other men, then back to Nadia, who was the only one who seemed unharmed.

"What happened."

He helped her up while the woman started to exam the three on the floor.

"I wish I could tell you, but I only know so much."

The man raised an eyebrow at her. Then turned to the woman.

"How are they, Canary?"

The woman, whom Nadia now recognized as Black Canary, spoke without looking up.

"They've all fainted. But I don't see any serious damage."

The man, whom Nadia had now dubbed Robin Hood, nodded and walked to a far wall, and started talking to it. Nadia thought this a little strange, and it dawned on her that he must be speaking into some sort of speaker phone, to contact some help. Surely enough only moments later the Martian Manhunter  
(Nadia knew who he was at first sight) materialized right next to Robin Hood. Nadia wasn't freaked out by this, after all, she wasn't entirely normal herself. She could hear their conversation from here. The manhunter spoke first.

"Green Arrow, where are they?"

'Oh, so you're green arrow...' Nadia thought.

The Arrow, Nadia declared this to be his new nickname, pointed to where Nadia was standing, and Canary was examining the three heroes. When he looked at her, the Manhunter's eyes widened slightly and he looked at the Arrow, who merely shrugged. They started to walk towards Nadia, and she had just one thing to say when she looked at her watch, and the two were near her.

"I'm late."

The Arrow had a questioning look on his face."What?"

"I'm late for class." Nadia's face fell. She hadn't been on time for two weeks. And this was supposed to be her glory day.

The two Justice League members had to look down to get a view of her face.

"I don't think you'll be making it to school today," the manhunter stated, as thought it was a fact, rather than a prediction.

Nadia sighed. She didn't see this as good. She was one of those students who actually enjoyed going to school. Maybe it had something to do with her being able to get through her work like it was chocolate ice cream.

The Arrow and Manhunter looked at eachother and nodded simontaniously, then looked back at her.

"Ok, kid. Follow me," said the Arrow. But Nadia was as stubborn as a mule.

"Why?"

"Because, I'm going to take you to a waiting room."

"Where?"

"In the east wing."

"When?"

"Now."

"How?"

"Well, if you don't hurry up, I'm going to swing you over my shoulder."

"Oh, so you're just gonna diss your bow and arrows like that? Wow, I'm never gonna be your friend."

Canary giggled, and the Arrow stomped off, muttering somehting about rotten kids, Nadia following close behind.

They had been walking for a few minutes, now and then running into someone who would say something like 'Hey Arrow, who's the kid?' or  
'Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend eh, Arrow?'. Nadia practically gagged at comments like the secound one. They walked without talking for a few more secounds, until Arrow broke the silence.

"So, what's your name?"

"Nadia."

"How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"Thirteen," he let out a long whistle," man, that's young. Where do you live?"

"Gotham, my favorite color is baby blue, my mom's name is Sophie, my stepdad's name is Jonothan, I was born in Detroit, I go to St.Charle's Jr.High school, my grade point average is 4.1, I have a belly button piercing, I have a tatoo on my back, my _full_ name is Nadia Valencia Malano, I have a doberman named poochie, I'm an only child, my adress is 45838 Pensely Drive, Gotham city, my phone number is 802-347-9545, my _cell_ phone number is 240-496-0707, my birthday is May 27, I'm a Gemini, and my blood type is an outstandingly origional O. Anything else?"

Because of the silence, Nadia assumed the answer was no. They stopped at a doow and Arrow punched some numbers into the key pad. He motioned her inside.

"Just wait here, someone will be with you shortly."

He turned and left, closing the door behind him. Nadia looked at the room around her, and noticed a comfy looking chair beside a large window. She sat down on it so she was sideways, her legs dangling off the left side of the armrest. She looked out at the beautiful view of the stars.

Reaching into her bag, Nadia pulled out her cell. She wanted to call in sick, so the school wouldn't call her parents, but scowled when she saw she had no signal. She reached back into her bag and pulled out a thick photo album with a black leather cover. She smiled. Nadia got this album the same day she learned she had powers, almost three years ago.

**Flashback **

Ten year old Nadia sat on the floor with her legs crossed, brushing the hair of her favorite doll, Melanie. She smiled brightly. Her stepdad, Joe, had bought this for her last night, and she hadn't put it down since. Melaniehad dark brown hair that clashed with her pale face. Nadia had dressed her in a pretty red dress with white frills at the end of it. She decided that Melanie should see the outside world, and wanted to take her for a walk. It was 4:00 and still light out, so Nadia figured her her mother wouldn't mind. She stood with Melanie still in her arms, walked down the stairs, and out the door There was a light breeze in the sunny weather, so Nadia felt very nice. She loved it when it was sunny but breezy. They walked down the road and then turned on a shorter street. They were taking Nadia's 'secret shortcut' to the park. They came across a dead end with a dirt path at the end. They walked down the path until they made it to an old wooden fence. Nadia felt around on the fence for a while then found the one she was looking for.

One of the wooden legs was loose. Nadia pushed it open and revealed a small gap. Just big enough for a small girl and her doll to fit through.

Nadia climbed through the opening, pulling Melanie with her. The residents of the house that owned the fence and all of its contents were complete slobs.  
Inside of the fence, the grass was so high, Nadia could get lost in it. There was trash everywhere. Old tires, garbage cans, old food, branches, bushes, bikes, rusty chairs, even rats dwelled there.

Nadia felt ready to puke. She held Melanie close to her. Taking a large gulp, Nadia started making her way through the lawn. She made it about halfway when she heard a soft but clearly angry growling somewhere inside the bushes. She stopped dead in her tracks. The growling was getting heavier, and heavier. And then it stopped. Nadia sighed, thinking she and Melanie were safe. She took one step, and something large and grey jumped from the bushes and tore Melanie from her arms.

The culprit was a bit grey dog that looked big enough to ride on. To Nadia's great dismay, it started taring and biting Melanie.

Nadia screamed her dear life out.

"Stop!"

But the dog tared on.

"Stop it you're hurting her!"

_RIP_

"STOP!"

As if Nadia's words were some sort of trigger, her shadow, yes her shadow, rose from the ground, creating a completely black figure of Nadia. The real Nadia felt someone behind her turned around. When she saw a faceless verdion of herself, she almost screamed. They stood there, Nadia looking at where her shadow's eyes would be. It took a wile for her to comprehend the siduation. Nadia mentaly told her shadow to raise it's arms. It did. Nadia then told it to touch it's head. It complied. Nadia reached out to her shadow and touched it's face. It was solid, but it's black skin was clammy and cold. Then Nadia had an idea.

'Please, help Melanie' she told her shadow.

Her shadow walked past her to Melanie and the dog. Nadia watched as her shadow. The shadow had now gotten the dog's attention, and it lundged at her, gwoling. But the shadow was too quick for it. When the dog lunged, the shadow threw a punch directly at it's stomach, and it fell to the floor, whining. The dog rose to it's feet, whimpered and scrambled away, dropping a torn Melanie to the floor. The shadow turned back to Nadia, then sunk into the floor, adn darted back to it's place behind Nadia, whom was utterly confused. How could she do that? She suddenly remmebered Melanie, and ran to the doll picking her up. She stared at the beat up toy, and then dropped it again. For some reason, she felt too old for dolls now.

Nadia smiled. This was going to be fun, very fun.

**Present**

For three years Nadia had learned to master her powers, and use them to their full extent. She was able to summon her shadow, as well as the shadows of other people and control them. She could change her shadow's size and shape. For example, the black blanket that brought Nadia here was actually her shadow, in a differant form. She can also transport herself and others with her shadow, but very rarely to places she hasn't been, use her shadow as energy bolts, and turn even the brightest places dark. She can pretty much do anything that includes shadows. But above all, her favorite ability, besides summoning shadow, is fly. The only thing she can do that doesn't include shadows is fly.

Nadia never thought of herself as a freak, or weird, just special. Her powers were a good thing, they helped her a lot. She never tol a soul about them, and didn't plan to. But she had a faint idea that today, she might have to.

Normally Nadia would wonder why she had these abilities. She figured it probably had to do with her birth father. Nadia's mother was raped at seventeen, so naturally Nadia never knew her father. Sophie met Joe when she was twenty-two, and they got married when she was twenty-four. Nadia liked Joe. He was a wealthy man, and somewhat of a clown.

Nadia sighed and pulled out her iPod. She put on Three Evils by Coheed and Cambria. She was in the middle of the song when the door slid open. She had the urge to just transport herself back home right then, but knew that she couldn't transport herself more than once every three hours. Now standing in the doorway was four core league members, Nadia knew them as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawk Girl, and again Martian Manhunter. She turned off her ipod and stood.


	2. Concerns

Each of the people Nadia stood staring at held a differant look. Diana, the princess of the Amazons looked kind, and yet in a way fierce. Green Lantern looked greatly annoyed, and HawkGirl had an expression on her face that clearly read 'you have got to be kidding me'. The martian from Mars was calm and kept a cool exterior. There was an akward silence as the four walked into the room, the door sliding behind them. 

Nadia studied each of their faces. Everyone seemed a little tense except for Diana. They looked at eachother, and then back at Nadia. Each one hoping the other would speak first. Nadia was lost in thought about how this seemed like childish behavior even for her, until the tall African-American man spoke.

"So this is the great savior? Well J'onn, you manage to leave out the small detail that she's 5 feet tall."

Nadia was not going to take that."Achem, 5"1.5, actually."

Green Lanter grimaced, Nadia could tell he wasn't the kind of man who knew a joke if it hit him with a frying pan.  
Diana smiled at her, and Nadia smiled back.

"I am Wonder Woman, Diana, if you don't mind," she then motioned to the woman with wings,"This is HawkGirl, Green lantern," she motioned to the man in green and black,"and I believe you've already met J'onn?"

"Not formally," Nadia said with a slight smile. She mentaly shook her head, she had a question to ask.

"How are the three I brought here with me?"

This time HawkGirl answered her."There's no critical damage. They're excpected to make a full recovery by tommorow."

Nadia nodded. She was pleased that she didn't accidentally ditch school just so the men she was trying to save died. That would really suck. In the back of her head a little voice was telling her to run into the nearest closet and hide there till she could transport home again. But she figured they deserved answers, and wanted to get over with it. She heaved a sigh and begun to divulge her deepest secret.

"I'm guessing you want to know exactly what happened?"

"Naturally," came the Martian's reply.

Nadia leaned back against the chair and gazed out the window."Well, it all started like this..."

She went on about her being late to her bus stop, and seeing the random siamese bird. She told them all about the three super heros fallin into the street, and them almost getting hit by her schools bus.

"And then," Nadia was saying,"I transported us to the first place I could think of, well the first place that I could think of that my three passengers would recognize."

The other four in the room said nothing. They just stared at her with expectant looks an Nadia caught the drift.

She rasied an eyebrow and cocked her head."What, you didn't think I'd give you my life story?"

The continued their staring.

"Oh, you did. Well, don't take it personaly, I haven't told anyone about my secret. I'm scared my Mom'll freak and ship me of to the closest lab so they can stick needls in me."

She shivered and rubbed her arms. "I can't even get a Flu shot without putting up a fight."

Nadia looked at her watch and smiled. 23 minutes. She looked back at the league members, amazed at how fast time flys.

She half excpected one of the four to say something. The one who finally did happened to be Diana.

"We never got your name."

Nadia smiled."It's Nadia Malano. Oh, and if you're going to look me up, check under Jonothan Price, that's my stepdad's name. Anyway, I'll be out in say, more or less than 15 minutes."

"Wait."

Nadia was surprized to see this was Green Lanter who wanted her to stay. He looked at her, as if he were speaking to a kid...oh, wait, he was.

"Look, I think we can all say that this is unexpected. But how do we know we can trust you? If we let you go back now who knows what vital information you might hold."

Nadia was flabberghasted."Trust? Who said I wanted your trust? I just want to get to school so I don't get detention for a month! Or worse, I might get demoted from class president. Look, I did your friends a favor, and I'm not plotting against the Justice League. Trust me, I have better things to do."

J'onn stepped up to the plate."You don't understand. People would go to any lengths to find out information about the Justice League. People like Lex Luthor."

"If anyone were to discover that you had been up here, you could be in very serious danger," HawkGirl said.

Diana sighed."Nadia, we just want you to be safe."

"I'll be fine. Besides, how would anyone even find out."

Green Lantern grimaced."You'd be surprized."

Nadia smiled."Listen, I'll be alright. If anyone trys anything stupid I can usually handle it. I know how to take care if myself."

J'onn nodded."I understand." 

He reached into his cloak and pulled out a black watch. Then continued speaking.

"This is a communicator, call if you get into any touble," he said, handing her the watch.

Nadia smiled again."I will."

She looked at her normal watch. The three hours were up.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys, maybe I'll see you again sometime." And with a wave, she dissapeared with the shadows.


	3. Watery Peril

When Nadia appeared in her room, the first thing she did was flop onto her bed. There was no point in going to school so late, and Nadia was hoping the office hadn't called her Mom.

She was thinking about what the justice league had said to her a few minutes ago. About her being in danger.

'Are the conditions that serious? I hadn't planned on telling anyone about today, but should I start looking over my shoulder every few secounds?'

Nadia screwed up her face in thought. Nah. She didn't thinnk anything disasterous would happen. Big mistake.

Nadia reached over to her bedstand and picked up her house phone. She dialed her school's office number, and after two rings a woman picked up the phone.

"Hello?" It was Miss.Bosman, an elderly woman who was always at the office's front desk.

Nadia put on a convincing motherly voice that surprized even herself."Hello, this is Sophie, Nadia Malano's mother. I'm calling to tell you that Nadia is sick today, and she won't be coming to school."

"Oh, alright. I will inform her teachers."

Nadia sighed fakely."Thanks a lot. I'm sorry I'm calling so late, uh, it's been busy for me at work, and I never really had time to."

Miss.Bosman was very kind, and didn't ask questions."No, it's fine. No problem."

Nadia said farewell to the school worker and hung up. She looked at the time. Her mom and Joe would be at work right about now, and weren't coming home till five.

'I have four hours to myself, what shall I do?'

Her first thought was to go ice skating, but then she remmebered her skates were in the shop. Nadia was an advanced ice skater, the top of her class. Her instructor favored her, and seemed to think she could really be the best. She had the talent, the motivation, the wanting.

Since ice skating was out, Nadia went to her next favorite hobby, swimming. She loved to swim almost as much as she loved to ice skate. So it was decided, Nadia would walk to the nearby swimming pool.

As she dressed Nadia smiled. The pool would be closed right about now, but for her, that wasn't a problem. Nadia was the queen of connections. She was friends with just about everybody. One in particular, Jim, was the son of the woman who owned the pool, and he had stole the key and made a copy specially for Nadia, on the condition that she gave him a kiss.

As she finished dressing, Nadia pulled out the key from a small safe that looked ready to burst because it was so packed with keys. Then she looked at herself in the mirror. She wore her blue one piece bathing suit under a white baby-T and blue jean shorts, with white adidas. She threw her bag that had her towel and other few items over her shoulder. Beggining her walk downstairs, Nadia thought she would find Poochie and play with him a little, since she hadn't seen him all day, but thought better. If he saw her now, he probably wouldn't let her leave.

Nadia got Poochie when he was just a puppy. Now, at age Two, he has grown to love Nadia and was very protective of her. She remembered the Christmas morning she came downstairs to see a three month old Poochie under the tree with a red ribbon tied around his neck. It was the best day of her life, after finding out about her powers.

Nadia walked out the door and down the street without a thought. The pool, which was called Denmont, was three blocks away from Nadia's house, and was somewhere she went regularly after school.

The streets were empty. Everyone in Nadia's neighborhood was at school or work.

'Thank God.'

There was just one person Nadia had to watch out for, Ms.Warmwood.

Ms.Warmwood was the evil old lady that lived next door to the pool. Her husband died a few years back, when she was a sweet woman. Everyone thinks it was the sudden death that forced her to becom the evil old witch she is. Kids would always dare eachother to peek into her window to see if she was brewing a potion, but very few made it past her front lawn. Nadia always thought those games were a bit childish, and rude. If Ms.Warmwood wanted to be alone, Ms.Warmwood should be left alone. It was that simple.

As Nadia approached the pool, she started to get cautious. Her eyes darted back and forth, scanning the area. Clear. She peeked through a fence to see if the Warmwood Witch (Ms.Warmwood's nickname) was there. Again, clear. Then, running like there was no tommorow, Nadia crossed the street and to the pool pathway. She ducked behind a tree as a truck passed by, then ran to the door, opened it with the key, and quickly went inside. She didn't notice a single eye watching her.

The indoor pool was always a favorite of Nadia's, mostly because it had a diving board, unlike the outdoor. She sat down on one of the many blue benches and stripped down to her bathingsuit. Then she went over to the music box and turned on her favorite Coheed and Cambria song Three Evils. She smiled as the song played. 

Walking over to the diving board Nadia slipped a foot into the water and was happy to see that it was not too cold. Once she was on the diving board, she did a back flip and dived into the water. She was able to do stunts like these thanks to many years of Gymnastics.

Nadia did one lap and back, swimming freestyle and breast stroke. She jumped out of the pool to dive again and fingered her dolphin shaped gold anklet. She bought it with some Birthday money. The music box automatically skipped to Blood Red Summer, again by Coheed and Cambria once Three Evils was done.

Nadia ran a hand through her hair and walked over to the board to jump off again when she slipped. She fell flat on her face and rubbed her aching head. All of a sudden she found herself off the floor, someone holding the back of her suit. She looked at her attacker and nearly screamed. There before her, at least 5 times her size was a dumb looking cyclops. The creature roared out and threw Nadia straight at the music box, shutting it off. Crying out at the inse pain, Nadia summoned Shadow, it was time to fight back. Shadow dissapeared into the floor and reappeared directly behind the cyclops. She then pushed the cyclops into the water. Nadia wanted to finish this herself. She created shadow bolts in her hand and threw them at the cyclops.

"UGH!"

The cyclops felt the bolts hit his back and screamed. He submerged and left the pool. His scream was so loud, the light in the room went out completely.

"Uh-oh.."

Nadia started to panic. Her breath quickened, and she took a few steps back. Suddenly something grabbed Nadia by her arm and threw her against the wall. A knocked out Nadia sunk into the pool and into darkness.

Sometime later Nadia came around. All she remembered was a pair of lips blowing air into her lungs. The young girl coughed up water and looked at the person in front of her. It was blurred, and all she remmberd was a black figure before she fainted.

Nadia heard voices all around her. She noticed she was wearing her clothes, but they were sticking to her wet body. She felt a large lump in the back of her head and figured it was probably bleeding. Slowly, she sat up and blinked a few times. When she fully had full vision back a red masked face was inches infront of her's.

"Hi," it said.

Nadia gave a small yelp and fell of the bed.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!"

She remmebered what happened at the pool and gasped. She couldn't believe it, someone attacked her, someone hit her. They can't hit her! Nadia inhaled deeply.

'Ok, I'm being stupid, now let's be logical. That...thing...was probably sent by someone. It was way to stupid to be it's own boss.'

She looked up at the others in the room. Her eyes widened, it was the entire Justice League core members.

"What happened to me?"

"You were attacked," J'onn said.

Nadia smiled sheepishly."Oh, heh. Guess you were right."

Her smile faded at the serious looks on everyone's faces. Nadia sighed and sat on the bed."Ok, what do you wanna know?"

Superman spoke first."Who are you?"

"Nadia Malano."

"I mean how do you have your powers? We need to have feedback on all of our League members," he said, smiling as if he had made all her dreams come true.

Nadia was dumbfounded."League member? Wait a minute, I never agreed-"

"Look kid, it'll be easier for us to keep tabbs on you if you stick around," said Green Lantern.

"But-"

J'onn interupted"So it's settled then, I'll make sure a room is prepared."

"Hold up-"

Flash smirked."What? Are you weak or something?"

Nadia had had it."Say What?"

Smirk."You heard me, weakling."

Nadia frowned and crossed her arms."I am not weak."

To prove her point, Shadow grabbed Flash's ankles and pulled him to the floor. Nadia laughed out loud.

"Who's weak now?"

She turned to the rest of the league."Ok, I'll play along. Just as long as it doesn't interfere with school."

"We'll work something out," said HawkGirl

Batman, who had been silent till now, finally said something."Just one question, earlier back at the pool, I noticed that you paniced when it got dark, why?"

"Oh so it was you who saved me. Well thanks for that."

"Don't mention it, ever."

Nadia knew he was talking about the CPR, and she mentaly shrugged.

"Well, to answer your question, it's because I'm afraid of the dark."

Flash chuckled."Why? Do ya think monsters are going to get you?"

"No," she said glaring,"It's 'cause my shadow dissapears when it's dark."

Diana raised an eyebrow."So?"

"So, my power comes from the shadows, and if there are no shadows, theres no powers, except for flying."

Nadia looked away and smiled."You know you're the first I've ever told."

They nodded.

Nadia felt the back of her head and looked back at her hand. It was literally covered in blood. She made a disgusted face and turned back to the adults

"So who do you think sent that cyclops?"

"We're not posotive, but whoever it was obviously knew you were up here. But before we start to discuss this Diana will take you down to the infimary to get your wounds healed," responded Superman.

Nadia nodded and jumped off the bed, following the Amazon warrior out of the room. Diana was probably interested in Nadia, for she thought it would be a good idea to strike up a conversation.

"So tell me a little about yourself Nadia."

Nadia smiled, she could tell she was going to like it here...a lot.


	4. Grits and Fits

A loud scream echoed throughout the watchtower.

"UGHHHHH! FLASH!"

Shadow, a.k.a. Nadia Malano, stormed down one of the Watchtower's many corridors clearly furious.

"Flash! I swear on my life that I will KILL you!"

Heads turned from all directions when Shadow busted into the Cafeteria, where many League members were enjoying their lunches. A supposedly clueless Flash looked up from his burger, fighting to suppress a laugh.

"Wa?" he said, putting on a false look of utter confusion and his mouth stuffed with food.

Nadia was outraged.

"You know what! You are going to pay for that…with your life!"

Nadia suddenly lunged at him, but being the fastest man on Earth, he effortlessly ran out of the way, laughing. Nadia on the other hand toppled into the chair in which Flash had been sitting, now angered beyond all reason.

She made another lunge at Flash, and then a few more, all of them he easily avoided. Then Nadia took it up a notch and summoned bolts in both of her hands.

Dove, who had been sitting next to his brother Hawk, was watching the scenario and felt that he should interfere before things got out of hand. Walking up behind Nadia, he put one hand on the teenager's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Nadia, relax. Things don't need to get nasty."

Shadow stopped struggling to get out of Dove's grip and clenched her fists, glaring at Flash.

"Ok, whatever…" she sighed.

"Now", Dove continued, "tell me why you are covered in Grits, don't you think it's a little late for breakfast?"

Nadia scowled, resenting that comment.

"Well, Flash over here thought it would be funny to leave a bucket of Grits over my door, so when I opened it I would resemble a freshly delivered bird dropping!"

"Hey, I don't know what she's talking about, but that bucket probably hit her head before the Grits did", and at his own comment, Flash broke out in a fit of laughter.

Nadia's face instantly became unfathomable, and then after a few seconds, allowed herself a smirk.

"You're right Flash", she said," I'm so sorry for accusing you, could you ever find it in you to forgive me?"

Flash instantly stopped laughing, confusion written all over his face.

"Uhhh, are you feeling alright. I was just kidding about the bucket thing, but maybe I was right."

Dove smiled." See, this could all be solved verbally, no need for vi-"

But as soon as the superhero let go of Nadia, she sent to fierce bolts straight at Flash, which due to the fact that he was not alert and let his guard down, hit him straight in the chest and sent him flying straight at the wall behind him.

Flash slid down the wall, moaning as he went. And Nadia jumped with joy. She knew she'd probably get in trouble with Clark for that, but it was worth it. Besides, she could just say that she was provoked, and get off with a 'You should always control your emotions' lecture. 

Luckily, Flash was all right. Shadow had held back, and only sent minor bolts at him.  
Standing up, the Rebel in Red stood.

"You crazy little….", but his words were lost in a sea of groans.

Satisfied, Nadia started back to her room to change. She smelled like Grits (obviously) and was sticky and just…..ew! She was so mad at Flash! But this wouldn't be the first stunt he's pulled, and it WON'T be the last. All the other times Shadow swore she wouldn't forgive him the next time it happened, but eventually she gave in. She could never stay mad at Flash. They had grown to be too close for that. He was like an older brother to her.

Nadia had been with the League for exactly one month today. And she was happy to say so. She made great friends, and a new family that she can share her powers with, and not be afraid to show her abilities. Even though Nadia is relatively younger than most of the League members, most of whom are in their twenties and thirties, they treat her like an adult, except in those extreme occasions.

As Shadow walked back to her room, her thoughts strayed to her mother and stepfather. Nadia smiled. She had managed to keep the fact that she has powers from them for over three years, and that every weekend, when she claimed to be 'sleeping over'at the home of one of her friends, she really came up to the watchtower to spend the weekend. She also came up every day after school, and managed to get home just before her parents. She even got Bruce to get her a signal on her cell, so she could communicate with her parents. And that is not an easy task with an i860 Motorola phone.

Nadia finally stopped at the door to her 'other' bedroom and punched in the code to open the door. Stepping in, she smiled. It looked nothing like her room at home. Down on earth, her room had dark blue walls and a white ceiling and border. Her large Queen sized bed was white and blue and her carpet was fluffy and clean. Many of the walls were decorated with magazine cutouts and the ceiling was covered in stars that glow in the dark. In the Watchtower, however, her room was a softer blue, and her bed was plain and white, so very simple.


End file.
